Fluid controlled tape puller



April 39, 1938. A. D. EITZEN 2,114,290

FLUID CONTROLLED TAPE FULLER Original Filed July 25, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet l Pr jza for INVENTOR Aprifi 19, 1938. A. D. EITZEN 2,114,290

FLUID CONTROLLED TAPE FULLER Original Filed July 25, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BY WKD ATTORNEY Aprifi 19, E9

A. D. ElTZ EN 2,114,290

FLUID CONTROLLED TAPE FULLER Original Filed July 25, 1929 15 Sheets-Sheet 5 Projecfar INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 19, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE to News Projection Corporation, New York,

N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 25, 1929, Serial No. 380,854 Renewed January 5, 1937 3 Claims.

My present invention relates generally to stock ticker apparatus, and has particular reference to a stock ticker projection machine, or the like projection machine.

It is well known that a stock ticker, adapted to discharge marked tape, operates in an irregular manner depending upon the transactions recorded thereby. Accordingly, the marked tape emanates from the stock ticker at constantly varying rates of speed, and where this tape is designed to pass through a projecting device, it is necessary to provide mechanism for drawing the tape through the projecting device in a manner which takes into account the varying rate of feed into the projecting device.

It is a general object of my present invention to provide a stock ticker and a projecting device with automatically controlled mechanism for drawing the tape through the projecting device at substantially the same rate of speed as it is fed thereto.

A particular object of my invention is to provide an apparatus which does not have any recourse to electrical switches, relays, or similar control devices and which is therefore devoid of all the difiiculties that might be caused by sparking, friction, etc.

A particular feature of my invention lies in the provision of an apparatus which employs a fluid medium for effecting the automatic control contemplated. Briefly, I provide a fluid pump and a fluid motor, cooperatively associated with each other and with a tape-pulling mechanism so that the latter will operate automatically, smoothly and reliably at rates of speed substantially proportional to the rates of speed at which the marked tape is caused to emanate from the stock ticker.

Although my invention contemplates broadly the employment of a fluid medium, certain advantages are achieved by the use of a gas such as air, for in such an event I am enabled to accomplish an additional object appertaining to the cooling of the interior of the projecting device.

In general, it is an object of my invention to provide an apparatus which is simple in structural nature, inexpensive from a manufacturing standpoint, and reliable in operation.

For the attainment of the foregoing objects and such other objects as may hereinafter appear or be pointed out, I have illustrated several forms of my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l. is an elevational view partly in section of an assembly embodying the features of my invention;

Figure 2 is a plan View of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1 illustrating a modification; and

Figure 5 is a plan view of the apparatus of Figure 4.

I have shown a data recording device, the stock ticker l0, adapted to discharge a marked tape H, the latter being fed, as at 12, into a projecting device I3 and emanating from the latter as at M. The projecting device may be of usual construction embodying a main housing within which illuminating means are provided and a lateral housing through which the tape passes and above which an objective lens H3 or the like is adapted to throw or project the beam of light upwardly onto a suitable screen. I have also shown a tape-pulling and re-winding mechanism designated generally by the reference numeral I6.

As the tape approaches the pulling mechanism it passes under a guide roller ll, thence over a pulling roller l8, thence beneath a guide roller [9, and finally onto a mandrel or the like 26. The mechanism presently to be described for rotating the pulling roller I8 serves by means of the belt or thong 2! also to drive the mandrel 20, whereby the tape II is not only kept taut but is eiiiciently drawn onto and wound upon the mandrel 2!]. A spring-pressed guide roller 22 bears upon the tape as it passes over the pulling roller In accordance with my present invention, I drive the pulling roller l8 by means of a fluid motor 23, the shaft 24 of the latter carrying a worm 25 which meshes with a worm wheel 26 mounted upon the pulling roller iii. In the illustrated form, the motor 23 is a rotary one adapted to operate by means of a gas such as air, the inlet 21 being axially positioned whereby the air passes outwardly as shown most clearly in Figure 3 through suitable vanes or blades 28 so as to rotate the shaft 24. The exhaust or discharged air or gas passes out through the outlet conduit 29.

The air supplied to the motor 23 for driving the latter comes from a similar rotary fluid device 30 which is constructed to operate as a pump and which may, for example, be provided with vanes such as those shown at 3|. This pump is driven by means of an electric motor 32 or from a similar source of power, and the air discharged therefrom passes into a conduit 33 leading to the inlet opening 21 of the fluid motor.

The pump 38 is constantly driven and the automatic apparatus which I provide serves to control the amount of fluid transmitted from the pump 38 to the motor 23. I have illustratively shown a butterfly valve 34 positioned within the conduit 33. The adjustments of this valve are automatically controlled by mechanism which operates in timed relation to the discharge of tape from the ticker Ill. Thus, a roller 35 bears by gravity upon the tape ll as the latter emanates from the ticker l0, this roller being carried on the end of a control lever 36 pivoted at 3? to a fixed portion of the machine. A control rod 38 is pivotally associated at 39 with a midportion of the lever 36 and is pivotally associated at 40, at its lower end, with a lever 4! attached to the valve 34. A counterweight 42 is preferably provided so that a minimum amount of work need be ac complished by the rod 38.

The parts are so constructed and proportioned that the valve 34 will be entirely shut when the ticker ID has ceased to operate. Under these conditions, the nature of the pump 38 is such that no breakage or damage will be caused since the air or similar fluid pumped thereby will simply circle and flow around within the pump 30 itself. As soon as the ticker l0 begins to discharge tape, a slack is formed between the ticker Ill and the projecting device l3, and the roller 35 will therefore be caused to drop. This will lower the rod 38 and cause the valve 34 to open. As soon as this occurs, air will be pumped through the conduit 33 to the motor 23, thereby causing the latter to operate and to drive the tape-pulling mechanism. The faster the ticker Ill discharges tape, the lower the rod 38 will fall and the greater the valve 34 will open. Accordingly, the motor 23 will be caused to operate at a varying rate which is proportional to the varying rate of discharge of tape from the ticker Ill, and in this way the desired smooth and reliable automatic operation is accomplished.

Where air is employed as the medium, I cause the conduit 29 to communicate with the interior of the projecting device l3 so that the air discharged from the motor 23 will pass into the device l3 and cool the latter.

After the tape ll leaves the roller 35, it will pass under the friction finger F pivotally mounted on the projecting device 53 so that it may engage the tape ll at the entrance end of the light aperture and press the tape into frictional engagement with the abutment A at the entrance end of the light aperture. Since both the finger F and roller 35 engage the upper face of the tape ll, it will be seen that the roller 35 assists the finger F materially to iron out the vibrations transmitted to the tape by the ticker.

In Figures 4 and 5 I have shown a modification wherein a liquid medium is employed. A ticker 43 discharges tape 44 which passes through a projecting device 45 and thence through a tape-pulling mechanism 46 onto a mandrel or similar rewinding mechanism 4?. A rotary motor adapted to operate with liquid is shown at 48 and the shaft 49 thereof carries a worm 58 which drives the pulling and re-winding mechanism. The motor 48 may, for example, be provided with vanes 5| as shown most clearly in Figure 5, and the inlet 52 is provided at one end of a conduit 53 leading from the discharge end 54 of a rotary pump 55 similarly constructed to operate with liquid. The discharge outlet 55 of the motor 48 communicates with a return conduit 57 leading to the pump 55. The latter may be driven by means of an electric motor 58.

The conduit 53 is provided with a valve 53, as previously described, in connection with the conduit 33, and the adjustments of these valves are controlled by mechanism similar to that previously mentioned and including, for example, the control rod 60.

The employment of liquid in this manner enables me to provide an entirely self-contained system wherein it is only necessary from time to time to replenish that small amount of liquid which may be lost by possible leakage; and this replenishment may advantageously be accom plished by means of a filling opening or the like 6!.

In both of the embodiments herein illustrated and described, it will be obvious that the cost of operation is extremely small, if not wholly negligible, since the fluid medium is extremely flexible and inexpensive. At the same time, it is to be noted that an eflicient automatic control is provided, accomplishing highly desirable objects heretofore achieved by mechanism far more complicated and expensive.

It will be obvious that changes in the details herein described and illustrated for the purpose of explaining the details of my invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims. It is therefore intended that these details be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A tape drawing mechanism for drawing marked tape across. the light aperture of a proecting machine having a tape pulling roller beyond the discharge end of the light aperture, and a control apparatus for the drawing mechanism, said apparatus comprising a continuously operating electric motor, supplying a predetermined power force, a rotary fiuid pump continuously driven by said motor at a predetermined rate of speed, a rotary fluid motor beyond the discharge end of said light aperture operatively connected to said pulling roller, a conduit extending from said pump to said motor to supply fluid and thereby pressure to said motor, and means operable in timed relation to the supply of tape to the light aperture for controlling the fluid and thereby the pressure fed through said conduit to said motor, said controlling means comprising a control lever, a roller carried by the free end of said control lever and adapted to rest on the tape and respond to deflections in the tape at the entrance end to the light aperture, a valve in said conduit disposed below said control lever at the entrance end to the light aperture, a second lever fixed to the pivot point of said valve and having two arms extending in opposite directions from said pivot point, a link connecting one of said arms with said control lever, and a weight formed on the other arm of said second lever.

2. A tape drawing mechanism for drawing marked tape across the light aperture of a projecting machine having a tape pulling roller beyond the discharge end of the light aperture, and a control apparatus for the drawing mechanism, said apparatus comprising a continuously operating electric motor, supplying a predetermined 7 power force, a rotary fluid pump continuously driven by said motor at a predetermined rate of speed, a rotary fluid motor beyond the discharge end of said light aperture operatively connected to said pulling roller, a conduit extending from said pump to said fluid motor to supply fluid and thereby pressure to said fluid motor, and means operable in timed relation to the supply of tape to the light aperture for controlling the fluid and thereby the pressure fed through said conduit to said fluid motor, said controlling means comprising a control lever adapted to engage the tape and respond to deflections in the tape, a valve in said conduit to regulate the passage therethrough, a second lever operatively connected to said valve, and a link connecting said second lever with said control lever to position said valve according to the deflection in the tape.

3. A tape drawing mechanism for drawing marked tape across the light aperture of a projecting machine having a tape pulling roller, and a control apparatus for the tape pulling roller, said apparatus comprising a continuously operating electric motor, supplying a predetermined power force, a rotary air pump continuously driven by said electric motor at a predetermined rate of speed, a rotary air motor operatively connected to said pulling roller, a conduit extending from said pump to said air motor to supply air and thereby pressure to said air motor, and means operable in timed relation to the supply of tape to the light aperture for controlling the air and thereby the pressure fed through said conduit to said air motor, said controlling means comprising a control lever adapted to engage the tape and respond to deflections in the tape, a valve in said conduit to regulate the passage therethrough, linkage operatively connecting said valve with said control lever to position said valve according to the deflection in the tape, and a discharge conduit from said air motor to the projecting machine for conducting the discharged air to the projecting machine to ventilate the same.

AUGUST D. EITZEN. 

